Now Derby starlet Giles is back in the hiring line

As Derby County careered towards the title of the Barclays Premier League's worst team, there was one crumb of comfort for the Pride Park faithful.

In the midst of a succession of morale-sapping defeats, the form of Giles Barnes provided a chink of light. With £5million offers on the table from Newcastle United and West Ham, he was very much in demand and a call-up to England's Under 21 squad highlighted his rich promise.

On Tuesday, even though Derby's Carling Cup final bid was derailed after little more than half an hour at Old Trafford, two goals from Barnes in the last 10 minutes invoked memories of the midfielder's past glories.

Hot shot: Giles Barnes scores from a free-kick at Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The question remained, however, as to exactly where the 20-year-old has been in the interim. The answer is that a cruciate knee ligament injury forced him out of the game for 18 months.

The signs are good that he could play a major part in the club's survival. Terry Westley was handed temporary charge of Derby's affairs after Phil Brown was sacked in January 2006 and wasted no time throwing into the first team a youngster he had snared from rivals Nottingham Forest as a 14-year-old.

Westley, now Birmingham City's academy director, said: 'Giles spent a year with us in our youth team. I had no hesitation promoting him. I'd seen his power and pace at first hand and knew he would have no problems. I didn't have much choice really. He had spent the best part of three years telling me he was good enough, so I gave him his chance.

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'But the fact is that he proved to be the catalyst in us staying up. We were in the bottom three, but his energy and goals were a major help. Everyone knew that the following season - which I suppose was his breakthrough - he was going to catch the eye if he maintained his development.

'What I believe stands him apart is that he has the ability to go past people with the ball. You see good passers all the time, but there are few with that raw ability.'

Barnes' two goals against United in the final 10 minutes were a reminder of happier days. He maintains that he was simply not selected by previous manager Paul Jewell.

'I don't know the reasons why I wasn't played,' he said. 'I had a long time out with injury, but I was overlooked. I don't know why.

'It was frustrating going through everything I did only to have someone shut the door on me. The previous manager didn't need to explain why. He was the boss and that was his choice.

'Nigel Clough, the new manager started me in his first game against QPR and shows he has belief in me. Training has been a lot more bubbly, purely football-based. His dad was a great manager and I'm sure he's going to be as well.'

Barnes is due to link up with Colin Gordon's Key Sports agency at the end of the transfer window. Gordon said: 'He has what I believe all top players have - an inner belief.

'It can sometimes be mistaken for arrogance, but it's not. It's a belief in themselves. He had enough about him to fight for the ball with Robbie Savage and Paul Green for the penalty. In Giles's eyes he was the club's penalty-taker before he was out of the team, so it was only right he should assume that responsibility now he's back in it.'